The Speaker and His Wraiths

Take a Breather

Sit in a Circle

"I know we've all been working hard, and I am aware that we only have two weeks left before the meeting, but we won't be practicing spells today." Harry looked around at the confused faces of his nine with a smile. "Today, I just want all of us to be able to talk to each other."

"Talk... about what?" Pansy frowned. "It doesn't seem very productive."

"It doesn't have to be productive today." Harry stated easily, "The point of this is to slow down and pace ourselves a little. We've been doing a lot of work, and I don't want anyone feeling rundown or overworked because of it."

"But preparing for the meeting is more important." Ginny put in, "What we're doing is important."

"Of course it is." Harry confirmed with a nod. "It's important, but so are all of you guys."

There was a silence where all ten of them just glanced around at everyone else. They were sitting in a circle, the Come-And-Go Room having been made smaller for what Harry needed, and several of them were fidgeting in a way Harry related to.

"I've been worrying about freezing up in an emergency." Ginny whispered, eyes flicking to the floor. "I know my Protego is strong, better than most, even, but I can't help but worry that I'll lose focus and not be able to maintain it."

"I get that." Hermione said, frowning. "I've been doing better, but if I'm not focusing, or I get distracted, it wobbles."

"Wobble shield buddies for the win." Heidi muttered. Malcolm huffed a laugh.

"My shield is reliable, and I know that." Malcolm said, "I'm more worried about the Horcrux ritual thing."

"Yeah, that's what I'm stuck on too." Draco frowned. "I feel confident that the meeting will go well, especially since Harry's been doing such a great job as the Speaker." He grinned at Harry, and Harry made everyone laugh as he stuck his tongue out playfully. "So, that meeting isn't my issue. I'm worried that the problems will start later on. I just- I think..." He took a deep breath, and started over. "I'm worried that something will go wrong in the ritual and we'll end up being against the Dark Lord."

"Honestly, I'm worried about that too." Cho piped up softly. "There's only a few people on the research team, right?"

"The team consists of myself, Theo, Bulstrode, and Corner." Harry confirmed. "We've decided not to share the details of the ritual with everyone else."

"Why?" Ron asked, tilting his head. "It's sort of a little important, don't y'think?"

"Maybe just a little." Harry huffed, "It's mainly because it's so far off, and explaining it in full this early would be counterproductive. The other reason is because... it'll be really dangerous. If something goes wrong, we'll have a really angry and slightly demented Dark Lord plus all of his followers gunning for us. Worrying the younger years for no reason doesn't sit right with us."

"But what about us?" Hermione said with a thoughtful frown, "Oh... It's because we won't be there... right?"

"What?" Draco exclaimed, "What'd you mean we won't be there?"

"The research team will be coming along, plus two more to act as extra protection." Harry sighed, "Putting you guys at risk over and over isn't what I want."

"It makes sense." Luna said, smiling, "It'll be good for some other people to get experience. I imagine the two new volunteers will feel really included also, right? We feel close to this, and Harry, because we are the original volunteers."

"I didn't think of it like that." Draco frowned. "Ah man, does this mean they'll have five new people at the volunteer meetings?" Harry laughed while some of the others snorted at Draco's whining tone.